Haden happy with contract, Johnny Football joining Browns

BEREA, Ohio (AP) — The moment that rocked Cleveland, when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced Johnny Manziel was coming, even wobbled one of the Browns.

Like everyone, Joe Haden caught Johnny Football fever.

“I was hyped,” the Pro Bowl cornerback said Wednesday. “You know me. I’m a little bit on the flashy side, and I like that.”

Haden’s a lot flashier now after signing a five-year contract extension worth $68 million. The deal announced Tuesday includes $45 million in total guarantees and a $14 million signing bonus. Haden is now the NFL’s second-highest paid cornerback behind Seattle’s Richard Sherman.

But even before the big payday, Haden considered himself one of the game’s top corners, a member of an elite class of shutdown artists with Sherman, Patrick Peterson and Darrelle Revis.

“I would put myself up there ever since Day 1,” he said. “When you don’t win as many games, you don’t really get the recognition. Once you have good coaches behind you and your teammates behind you and you have the organization behind you, that’s all that really matters. And then once you get the contract, then everybody else seems to notice what was going on.”

The Browns made signing Haden to a long-term deal one of their top offseason goals. The team completed the agreement with agent Drew Rosenhaus earlier this week, extending a run of positive news for a franchise in desperate need of an infusion of optimism.

Along with drafting Manziel, the Browns got Haden some help by selecting Oklahoma State cornerback Justin Gilbert with the first of their two first-round picks.